Trenching apparatus.



T. FfMOORE. TRENCHING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 25. 1917.

1,270,240. Patented June 18, 1918.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

J77" TOIPNE v T. F. MOORE.

TRENCHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-25, 1911.

L U T m v T Lu N dw W w J t I Jay g T. F. MOORE.

TRENCHING APPARATUS. APFLICATIONIILED SEPT-25. I917- Patented June 18, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3. 3,

INVENTOR 2 771m s S E N 1 THOMAS F. MOORE, OF WESTFIELD, NEW JERSEY,

MACHINE COMPANY, OF WESTFIELD,

YORK.

ASSIGNOR TO MOORE TRENCH NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW TRENCHING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 18, 1918.

Application filed September 25, 1917. Serial No. 193,075.

I '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS F. MooRn, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of lVestfield, in the county of Union, in the State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Trenching Apparatus, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in apparatus for excavating and backfilling trenches for sub-surface conduits and similar work which is necessarily carried on withii'irelatively narrow limits, particularly in the thoroughfares of more or less congested districts.

It is well-knownthat in this class of work various conditions of earth and rock are encountered at the same or different depths, requiring dill'erent methods of excavation, and one of the'ma'in objects of my present invention is to provide a simple apparatus equipped with means for excavating and back-filling these different materials with a minimum amount of labor and expense.

Other objects and uses relating to specific parts of the apparatus Will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is an elevation, partly broken away, of my improved trenching apparatus showing a portion of a trench in section.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevation, partly in section, of the excavating and back-filling car with the dipper and bucket shown as supported thereon in their normal up positions, While the car is traveling along the trench, the dotted lines indicating the active digging position of the dipper and its operating cables.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view through the same car shown in Fig. 2 with the dipper in its digging position.

Fig. i is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken on line -ii, Fig. 3, showing more particularly the manner of mounting the dipper upon the car and the brake for controlling the swinging movement of the dipper.

The entire apparatus is adapted to be mounted upon suitable rails -A- extending along opposite sides of the line oi? the trench l3 and comprises broadly a car 1-, a power house 2 and a suitable anchorage 3, the power house and anchorage being located some distance from and at opposite ends of the car 1-, although mounted upon the rails -A for movement lengthwise thereof, they are normally blocked or held stationary While the car -1- is free to travel back and forth over the trench and back-fill, the anchorage -3 being additionally held against movement by weights -4-.

The car 1 is provided with separate devices for supporting a bucket 5- and a dipper 6-, the device for holding the bucket -5- consisting of a fall block -7 and a pin -8 which is movable in an inclined slot 9 so that it will be automatically displaced by the hook on the upper end of the fall block as the latter approaches the limit of its upward movement and will be forced into place for engagement by said hook as the tension 011 the operating cables for lititing the bucket is released.

The device for supporting the loaded end oi the dipper (iconsists of a similar fall block -1()- and a pin 11- which is also movable in an inclined slot 12 on the frame of the car to operate in exactly the same manner as that described for the fall block 7 and pin -8, the slots 9- and -12- being formed in suitable side plates -13- on the upper portion of the car.

The bucket -5- is used more particularly in excavations where it is necessary to employ laborers in the trench to fill the buckets, and is adapted to be raised and lowered by means of a cable -14. having one end passed over an idler l5 on the upper :lorward end of? the ear and thence around the sheave oi the "tall block and over an idler -l and its terminal end secured to the hook on the upper end of the fall block. as shown more clearly in Fig. 2, the opposite end of said cable being passed over an indler 17- in the power house and attached to a drum 18 which is driven by the engine -l9- in said power house.

This bucket-supporting means is preferablv mounted upon the car near the forward end thereof, while the dipper-supporting an M1.

means is mounted on the car some distance to the rear of the bucket-supporting means so that either of the devices may be operated freely andindependently of the other device.

The dipper -6- "consists of 'a digging bucket -20- mounted on the forward end of a rearwardly extending double bar beam -21- having its opposite arms spaced apart and provided with toothed racks -22 on their lower sides meshing with suitable pinions 23 which are secured to a cross shaft -24- on the rear end of the 'car -1, as shown more clearly in Figs. 3 and e, said pinions --23 and shaft 2 lco11stituting a fulcrum about which the beam --21-- may rock vertically and leiigthwise ofthe *car and trench and also tangentially 'of the ipinions.

The opposite lengthwise rack bars of the beam -'2 1a:re held inoperative engagement with their respective pinion's by yokes or guides '-25- which are hinged to the shaft -24- to swing with the beam thereon and-are each provided with a :pair of rollers -26- some distance apart for engaging the upper edges of the rack bars to hold them in engagement with their respective pinions 23 and also to guide the beam in its longitudinal movement and prevent cramping thereof in the yokes.

The 'means for operating the dipper 6' through the medium of the fall block 10- consists of a cable 27 extending lengthwise through the frame of the car between the dipper arms and supported by suitable rollers on said car, the rear portion of the cable being -passed around a sheave 28- on the anchorage 3- and then returned over-an idler -29- on the car, and thence around the sheave on the fall block -10- and over a sheave -80 also on the car, and its terminal end secured to the hook on the upper end of said fall block, the forwardly extending end of the cable 27- being passed over an idler 31 on the frame 'of the power house 2 and attached to a drum 32- which is driven by the engine 19-.

Suitable means is provided for holding the dipp'er supp'orting beam against lengthwise movement on the car, particularly during the operation of forcing the dipper into the solid earth in the bottom of the trench, and for this purpose I have provided the shaft --"24 with a brake-drum -33 and a brake-band -8t for frictionally engaging the periphery thereof, said brake-band being opened and closed from and upon the brake-drum by means of a hand lever and a cable '-*36- which is passed over suitable rollers -37- on the car -1- and has one end attached to the lever 35 and its other end attached to the brake-band -34. in such manner that when the lever 35- is operated in one direction, it will tighten the brake-band upon the drum -33 and when operated in the'opposite direction will release the brake (see Figs. 2 and 4).

The car -1is provided with'a suitable platform -38 upon which an operator may stand for operating a brake and releasing the fall blocks whenever desired.

It is now clear that by providing the car -1- with a bucket, as -5,- and itshois'ting means, and. also mounting upon the same car a digging dipper, as 20-, and its operating means, either may be used at will according to the nature of the material to be excavated without material loss of time or alteration-of he trenching apparatus as a W l .v

To lower either the bucket '-5 ordiper ''6- itscable +1-tor -2/7 is drawn up sufliciently to release the hook on the upper end of the fall block from the supporting pin -8- or 11 whereupon the operator on the car may shift said pin out of the ,path of said hook, after which the corresponding drum in the power house will be released to allow the cable to unwind by the weight of the bucket or dipper which would then descend by its own gravity into the trench. v 4 I When raising or lowering the bucket by means of the cable 14 the car is stayed against movement by the cable 27- and drum -32 and when raising, lowering or digging with the dipper by means of the cable -27-, the car is stayed against movement by the cable '14l- --a-nd drum -18.

When the dipper is "elevated into the car and supported by its fall block 10 and pin 11, the distance between the point of attachment oft-he fall block to the dipper and fulcri i-mshaft -24 of the dippersupporting beam 21 is substantially equal to or slightly less than the distance between said fulcrum and the bottom of the car or surface case the beam would extend some distance rearwardly beyond said fulcrum according to the depth to which itmay be desired to dig the trench, or at which the dipper would be operable by its cable 27', thus permitting the dipper to begin its digging operation upon the surface "of the ground by simply tightening the brake-band 34'- upon. the drum -33 to prevent rotation of the pinions -23, thereby locking the (lipper-supporting beam in a certain position.

As the depth of excavation produced by the dipper increases, said dipper may be gradually lowered by simply releasing the brake-band through the medium of the lever -85- and in order to prevent accidental displacement of the dipper from its supporting yoke 25-, the extreme rear end of the beam '2l-- is provided with a stop, shoulder 4LO adapted to engage the rear of the ground, in which I edge of said yoke and thereby prevent such displacement.

It will also be observed that the cables l4. and 27- may be employed for moving the car along the track in opposite directions, as for exantple carrying the loaded buckets from a point over the trench where the excavation has been made to a point at the rear thereof where it may be dumped for back-filling upon the conduit or other sub-surface Work.

That is, after either cable has raised its load into the car and the receptacle for said load has been locked on said car, it is evident that the fall block to which the cable is attached will have reached the limit of its upward movement as determined by its engagement of the adjacent portion of the car so that by continuing the operation of the cable by its operating drum, the car will be drawn in one direction or the other.

For example, it the loaded receptacles have just been deposited upon the car and it is desired to draw the car back over the back-fill for depositing the load, it is simply necessary to continue the operation of the cable -27 by its drum 32 which will draw the car rearwardly, during which time the other drum -l8- will be released.

On the other hand, in returning the car to a point over the excavation for refilling the receptacles, it is simply necessary to release the drum 32 and to operate the drum 18 with the cable 14- thereon.

As the excavation of the trench progresses, the power house 24; may be moved forwardly along the track under its own power, drawing the car l and anchorage 3- along with it, or the anchorage may be moved forwardly independently of the car by means of the cable.

By making the dipper-supporting beam 21 in the form of two parallel arms arranged in spaced relation and supported on correspondingly spaced pinions not only affords a firmer and steadier support for the dipper against lateral strains, but also permits the dipper'hoisting cable 27 to be passed between those arms to avoid inter-.

ference therewith, and thus permit the dipper to swing through a longer are than would be possible with a single arm disposed in the same vertical plane as the cable.

Furthermore, the provision of a pair of spaced dipper arms with the cable running lengthwise between them permits the use of a relatively short car which is not only a great advantage by reason of its economy of manufacture, but also may be more easily and quickly manipulated along the track without the necessity of an underlying trestle,that is, the car itself may be supported on tracks directly upon the surface of the ground, while at the same time the dipper with its supporting arms may be rocked to opposite sides of a vertical position, as shown by the full lines and dotted lines in Fig.2, without liability of inter- :lering in any way with the cable Q7-.

What I claim is:

1. Trenching apparatus comprising, in combination with a track along the trench line, a power device and an anchorage, both stationed on the track some distance apart, said anchorage having a sheave thereon, a car movable along and upon the track between said power device and anchorage and provided with separate pairs of sheaves, separate fall blocks, one for each pair of sheaves, separate devices on the car for supporting and releasing the fall blocks upon and from the car, a cable passed around the anchorage-sheave and having one end connected to the power device and its other end passed around the sheaves of one pair and the sheave of the corresponding fall block and attached to said fall block, another cable connected at one end to the power device and having its other end passed around the sheaves of the other pair and that of the corresponding fall block and attached to the last-named fall block.

2. Trenching apparatus comprising, in combination with a track along the trench line, a power device and an anchorage, both stationed on the track some distance apart, said anchorage having a sheave thereon, a car movable along and upon the track between said power device and anchorage and provided with separate pairs of sheaves, separate fall blocks, one tor each pair of sheaves, separate devices on the car for supporting and releasing the fall blocks upon and from the car, a cable passed around the anchorage-sheave and having one end connected to the power device and its other end passed around the sheaves of one pair and the sheave of the corresponding fall block and attached to said fall block, another cable connected at one end to the power device and having its other end passed around the sheaves of the other pair and that of the corresponding fall block and attached to the last-named fall block, and a dipper supported by the first-named fall block, said dipper having a longitudinally extending arm fulcrumed on the car and movable longitudinally relatively thereto.

3. Trenching apparatus comprising in combination with a track, a power device and an anchorage, both stationed on the track some distance apart and provided, respectively, with a rotary drum and a sheave, a car movable along the track between the power device and anchorage and provided with a cable-supporting sheave, a digging dipper having spaced supporting arms mounted on the car to swing in a vertical plane lengthwise thereof and havin an independent endwise movement, a fail the anchor shea-ve and returned to the cararound the second-named sheave and attached to the fall block.

THOMAS F. MOORE.

Witnesses:

F. J. FITZIATRIGK, Ms B. CARTER.

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